The Toronto Maple Leafs announced Tuesday morning that head coach Randy Carlyle has been relieved of his duties.
The Leafs are 21-16-3 and fourth in the Atlantic Division this season, one point ahead of the Boston Bruins for the final Eastern Conference wild-card spot, but have lost seven of the last nine games and went 2-5 on their season-long seven game road trip.
Carlyle compiled a record of 91 wins, 78 losses, and 19 overtime/shootout losses in 188 games behind the Maple Leafs’ bench.
“We need to see some level of consistency and I think we’d all agree that we’ve had some good periods and some good stretches, but I don’t think I can stand here in front of you and say that we’ve been consistent.… Leafs GM Dave Nonis said at a Tuesday morning press conference. “We just felt at this point this was the right time to make the change and move ahead and try to get this team back playing like we have played for periods this season.…
For now, all options remain open. IMO, No. 1 reason Carlyle not fired in off-season was because TOR didn't see another guy worth 5 yrs/$2M+.
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) January 6, 2015Assistant coaches Peter Horachek and Steve Spott will take over behind the bench for Wednesday night's game against the Washington Capitals, but what direction the Leafs will go behind the bench will be determined later this week.
"Today really was about making the change." Nonis said. "We have two quality guys that have been head coaches that are going to be behind the bench tomorrow night and we'll approach how we're going to handle the coaching duties for the rest of the year over the next couple days."
While qualified head coaching options such as Dan Bylsma, Peter Deboer and Paul Maclean are available, it is more likely that Horachek(who served as interim coach in Florida after Kevin Dineen was fired in November 2013)would take over for the remainder of the season and that a search for a permanent bench boss would take place over the summer.
This lends itself to the Leafs interest in pursuing current Red Wings head coach Mike Babcock, who does not have a contract with Detroit after this season.
The firing of Carlyle was an inevitability if the Leafs faltered after making significant roster and coaching changes last summer, but the change halfway through the season with Toronto still in holding a playoff spot looks to be more towards determining whether the coach or the core players led by Phil Kessel and Dion Phaneuf are more to blame for the Maple Leafs dysfunctional performance on the ice.
Shanahan and Nonis share in decision to fire Carlyle. All players now potential trade targets.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) January 6, 2015“People think that players are set in stone. I’ve said before, players are movable, none of them have full no-moves.… Nonis said. “If there is a player move that makes us better, then we’ll look to do it, but this doesn’t change anything. This wasn’t about the core not listening to Randy or anything like that, we just felt that we weren’t going in the right direction, we are trending the wrong way right now.…
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